One evening in December of 1961, a handful of Unitarians got together at the now extinct Redwood Lodge to talk about starting a fellowship. Mainly couples with young families, they were hoping to find a place to voice their liberal views and provide religious education for their children. With assistance from the UUA Extension, they formed the Tri-Valley UU Fellowship and affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association in February of 1962. Members eagerly took the many workshops given by the Pacific Southwest District so they could learn how to run this organization effectively. The Fellowship quickly grew in those early years, attracting many teachers, writers and other creative members with its stimulating lectures and programs. Members were energetic and visionary, having a spirit that still prevails to this day.

From the very beginning, attaining our own facilities was important so we started a building fund and in 1969 purchased a midtown residence that we had to sell in 1974 because of zoning restrictions. Before and since, we have rented in many locations. We grew, did worship in several places, moving as we grew, feeling nomadic, finally settling into the Goebel center where we remained for about 13 years doing ‘church in a box’. 

In 1998, Rev. Dr. Betty Stapleford came to us as an extension minister and was called as our first full-time minister in 2000. During her 12 years with us, we doubled in size, and bought our current building in 2008.

After Rev. Dr. Stapleford’s retirement in 2010, she became our Minister Emerita, and Rev. Lora Brandis became our next called minister from 2011 to 2015. With Rev. Brandis we created our Mission Statement: “We nurture spiritually courageous people, who transform the world through justice and compassion” which appears on our Sanctuary Wall. 

In May 2016, we called our now settled minister, Rev. Nica Eaton. Rev. Nica has shepherded us into becoming financially stable & spiritually grounded.  She introduced a monthly Thematic Program that connects worship, WE and small groups. She united us in our Social Justice work, consolidating our justice work into 3 justice ministries: Racial & Cultural Justice, Gender/LGBTQIA+ & Climate Change, as well as UUtheVote, helping us always look at our work through a spiritual lens. We continue to be a welcoming congregation, our Wisdom Exploration program is thriving as new families join, and we have many small groups, special interest gatherings, and spiritual groups bringing folks together. In the 2019-20 year, we added the name Chalice to our current name, after a year of discernment and voting by the congregation. From 2020-2022 we moved our services online during the Covid Pandemic. Since then, we’ve paid off our mortgage on our building and fully moved our Sanctuary into our Fellowship Hall. Eventually, we hope to secure a larger building with more outside space and better visibility. Meanwhile, we are a welcoming home for all those seeking a place where kindness, compassion, justice and love are valued.

Here’s a brief introduction to the history of Unitarian Universalism by Reverend Nica